Contributed by: Nadin Askeland Humlen (Humlen Advokater AS)
June 2022 to April 2023
1. Business Immigration
No legislative changes.
A proposal to remove the “au-pair”-program is out on public hearing. As of June 2023, there appears to be a political majority in favour of removing the program.
2. Family based immigration
No legislative changes.
The Supreme Court of Norway issued a judgement stating that the criterion that require the applicant and spouse to be at least 24 years old for residence permit in family establishment cases does not infringe the rights set out in ECHR art. 8 or 14.
Issuing of residence cards to some non-EEA family members to EEA nationals has been put on hold according to an instruction by the Ministry of Justice, because of an up-coming proposal on legislative changes. The instruction involves non-EEA nationals who are going to get married to an EEA-national after entry, non-EEA family members who are under the care of an EEA national, foster children and full siblings (minors) of EEA nationals and family members financially supported by an EEA national residing in Norway.
3. Asylum
Norway received a total of 36,147 asylum seekers in 2022, and a total of 13,328 to June 2023 with Ukrainians being by far the largest group, compare to 1,524 in 2021 (top 3 – Syria, Eritrea and Afghanistan), and 1,841 in 2020 (top 3 – Syria, Turkey and Eritrea). The huge increase from 2021 to 2022 is caused by the war in Ukraine.
In 2022- 08.06.2023 Norway has received 48 406 refugees from Ukraine, where most of them where granted collective protection (acceptance rate of 98 %). A small number (183) were refused according to the Dublin regulation, mostly because they hold valid residence permits in other European countries in the Dublin area.
The Immigration Act and regulations on asylum where not subject to substantial changes in 2022/2023, but the Ministry of Justice issued several instructions on interpretations and practice of regulations towards Ukrainian citizens.
4. Deportation
No changes in the Immigration Act, but minor changes in the regulations.
A regulation that allowed entry bans, issued together with a decision to expel for giving false information in an application for asylum, to be lifted for skilled workers was removed. The removal means that skilled asylum seekers with job offers in Norway now have to go back to their home country to apply for skilled workers visa.
Several Supreme Court ruling on expulsion/deportation:
- Decision to expel a person who had moved to Norway as an 11-year old was not in disproportionate. He was convicted of several aggravated robberies, and was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
- Decision to expel a Romanian citizen after having accepted two fines for thefts was a disproportionate measure. The Supreme Court found that he did not pose a genuine, relevant and sufficient threat to fundamental societal interests, with references made to several judgements from the EU Court of Justice.
Judgement from ECtHR – Alleleh and others v. Norway (569/20)
The applicants argued that an expulsion order with a two-year re-entry ban against applicant Alleleh would entail an interference of their family life protected by art. 8, and that the interference was not necessary in a democratic society according to art. 8 § 2. Alleleh was found guilty of immigration-law breaches, and was married to a Norwegian national with whom she had four children. The Court found that there were no insurmountable obstacles to the family moving to Alleleh’s country of origin (Djibouti). The Court further found that there was a possibility of having the re-entry ban revised in the event of any negative development or unforeseen change and to apply for brief visits during ban. There were no “exceptional circumstances”, and the proportionality was duly assessed by domestic courts. The margin of appreciation was not transgressed, and the court found no violation of art. 8.
5. Citizenship
No legislative changes, but a huge backlog of applications for Norwegian citizenship because of the legislative changes that allowed dual citizenship from 2020. The large increase in applications is also due to refugees from the mass influx in 2015 now fulfilling the residency requirement (7 years for refugees) for citizenship.
Over 50 000 applications were submitted in 2022, and the processing time is on average 2-3 years from handing in the application. In order to reduce the processing time, the authorities are now trying out automatic processing of applications. If the application is processed automatically, the applicant usually will receive an answer within two months of the date the application was submitted.
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